Refrigerant tank for refrigerator cars



Jan. 6,1948. E. R. TTLEY ET AL 2,434,062

REFRIGERANT TANK FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS I Filed March 17, 1945 [7206725075 Edi/02 E Bailey, Gear EM C g,

Patenteci Jan. 6, 1948 REFRIGERANT TANK FdR refinement; CARS Battley and V Montreal, Quebec, Canada v E I spam-area Ma a 17, 1945, se ial No. tslsti Thisinvention relates to railway refrigerator car's. used-to transport commoditiesrequiring refrigeration in transit, and especially t'o-s-uch cars used for commodities necessitating a temperatu e (fif .tdhirty degrees or less, en route, such as frozen S,., e w G 1 p he invention is: an improvement over Patent No.,2,136,999,- of November 15,, 1938, wherein a refrigerant container, is located adjacent the; roof angl a side wall ofthe car; and apartition. is located belowthe refrigerant container toprovide n; ai lin s a e here tw n a d: w er n theair in said space bein lccoled by therefrigr r ntain s con a ne de ce ds throu fines psietedw t aid vs wa l in o'a sna eproidsd b wthc ad aa d he ng w rm dlbyth adinarji throus t l xi nas aqe to ecqql: aspac Whe e t e-Wale.isrspeateqa In s ch cars wet ice is; used as the refrigerant when transporting commodities, requiring" not less than forty-five to fifty degrees teinperature,=and salt is used with theice to obtainbrinelwhen lower temperatures are required, a 30 7 ratio r salt to ice. producing brine at about minus six degrees temperature which gives the brine great heat absortin capacity. v v v V e A When brine is used as the refrigerant, a solid or imperforate' refrigerant container or tank is used to retain the brine in the tank, and thereby obtain thefull benefit of its heat absorbing capam ity. Overflow holes'are provided in such tanks to mit th am un of ine. t ina dlad plug for cleaning' the tanks of debris and for insp'ection is provided. l

It has long been known that a brine solution accentuates corrosion of metal, particularly steel, in contact therewith; and; experience has shown that a concentrated solution causes considerable corrosion of the metallic flues in the walls of a top' bunkercar, even though said fiues are gal: vanized; When such fiu'escorrode the jolting of the car opens' up the corroded parts-,- allowing moisture to pass there'through and be absorbed by the-insulation; thereby reducingits efiectiv'e rie ss'as insulation, and adding weight which must be carried about with the car, and which adds to thnverhead cost of operating the car.

' It is-the principal objectot the invention to utilize the advantages of-the air and liquid circulate ing system, as set forth in Patent No; 2, 6,9 supra; and-at the, same time :confinetheicorrosion to a relatively, small number; of places; thereby materially reducing the cost of maintenance of the car. j 1 I scams; (oi: iii-1 7") It is another objetbi the inventionto provide w w "m I ."1. overflow -'arid drain cpening's tcr a refrigerant fontaine'r or Sach car and: to surround said openings with whereby liquid which overfiow-s' --or is drained lfrom sa'id container, is com ductedinto a certain nu'e" only. A' fu-rther object of the inventionis to arrange said means sothat aincirculating over 'and about said container may also move through and around) said means into the same flue to which the overflow and drained liquid is conducted :by said meansa Thus said conduit-means does not interfere-with zth'e free movement of cooled a-ir 'into the wet-aflue. l r. -By this arrangement" the othenwerticaltflues associated with the walls of the refrigeratorwcar are kept dry-,- and, th'erforeg free from corrosion.

In other words, tha co'rrosioni is confined: to": or concentrated in a very few of the several flues i thy-$35 ;v e I, x ii-. Ja =1: ther ob'Jec s and advant'ages of: the invention will appear in 1 the following description thereof. :Referrin'g now-to "the accompanying drawing; forming part ofit-his application; and wherein like reference characters indicate like-parts t; a Figure -1=:-'is transverse "section: th'rou'ghzpart of the roof 1 and. side wall of .a railway refrigerator ca'rr-incorporating-the,invention;s"; "Figure 2 is ahorizontal' secti-ononline &2 of Figure- 1 through the 1 side". wall; of a. refrigerator 'cargto which the:inV.enti0n1-1is applicable; a": v

e Figure ,3. is 4 a: transverse: sectiongthrough apart ofzthewal'l-an dzfloor of arefrigerator car to which the-invention isapplicables,.-. ;2 'w; l, 1 5; Figures-4114s::an'Henlarged' section"; Oligh ;-the roof; side wall; andnrefrigerant container 50f a top bunker; refrigerator; car. showing the improved means for conductinggoverflowliquid; and. drain liquidafrom the refrigerant container to one of the sidewall verti'calairfluesix l :Ffigure :5 515 amodifiedrforml of dfct armin part :of the invention wherein the. ..duct is;mad ofone piecerof.metalicomprising a single:u;nit-;.- .1 "The invention is:v adaptahleato en-refrigerator, car havingsspaced apart insulated ,walls; one; ofiwhich isrIS'hOWn at I:.;; an insulated 2190f? nrin u a 11035 1223 ioraminous fl or ,1 above; the floor-1:3 providing an airvdistributinggspacefibetween said minousrfloo zandinsu ated 110.0

a F129. -.;.A.1iiu;id irefri eranhco ta =1 positioned adiacenktheiroof .21 v nd-side iwallrzil. o. form an per or plug H1. The hatch opening through the roof is shown at l5 and, of course, the filling opening [9 in the container is positioned immediately therebelow as customary. A plurality of such containers is provided on each side of the car and, of course, there is a hatch opening for each container through which said containers may be serviced.

The side walls of the car are constructed substantially as shown in Figure 2 wherein I6 is the outer sheathing; I! are the vertically disposed outer side posts to which said sheathing is secured; i8 is the insulating material and I9 are the spaced inner posts which are generally staggered in relation to the outer posts ll, preferably occurring in a plane midway therebetween and which overlap wooden inner nailing posts 20, to which the inner sheathing 2|, preferably plywood, is removably secured.

A metallic sheet 25 paneled substantially as shown in Figure'2 to provide vertical flues 25 is interposed between the posts ill-20 and the inner sheathing 2!, and is removably secured to said nailing posts 20. These sheets 25 are, of course, galvanized for the purpose of resisting the corrosive action of brine or other liquid solution draining therethrough from the containers 1. Sometimes they are covered with a coating highly resistant to the corrosive action of the liquid from the particular refrigerant used. Notwithstanding such protective measures these flue sheets 25 corrode much faster than the other metal parts of the car which do not have such protection.

Therefore, the sheet 25 is preferably made in sections, since it is an object of the invention to confine the overflow and/0r drain from each tank to a certain flue only, and to accomplish this object there is shown a pair of spaced vertical kerfs 29 within the inner faces of an adjacent pair of posts 20. The vertical edges of the each flue sheet 25 are provided with outwardly extending flanges 30 which fit within said kerfs 29, and, when the inner sheathing is in place, of course, said flanges cannot be removed from the kerfs. Consequently when any flue sheet needs replacing it may be removed independently of the others by simply first removing the inner sheathing.

The overflow openings II and drain opening is of each container 7 are located directly over an adjacent wet flue 26, and there is shown in Figure 4, a spout-like duct 35 secured to a side wall 36 of the tank about said overflow openings ll.

' The liquid overflowing through said overflow holes is thus trapped in said ducts and must pass downwardly therethrough. This duct 35 may be secured directly to the side wall 35 of the tank or tothe tank supporting angle 37. The duct 35 is substantially rectangular in cross section and wide enough to enclose the preferably three overflow openings 1 I. The bottom of the duct is constricted to about one-half width, as at 38, forming a relatively wide spout-like open terminus.

The drain opening [3 of the tank is preferably formed at the juncture of the side wall 35 of the tank with the bottom of the tank or container and is preferably located directly under the overflow holes I I. There is also provided an enclosure or duct 39 formed about the drain opening l3 having an upper open end 49 into which the lower end 38 of the duct 35 extends and, therefore, discharges thereinto. The open end 40 is much larger in cross sectional area than the end 330i enclosure 35 so that air, circulating in the passageway 89, may also enter said open end 49 4 about the enclosure 35 and pass downwardly therethrough. The lower open end 42 of enclosure 39 is offset outwardly so as to extend into the upper end of wet flue 26 and thus all liquid from either the overflow holes H or drain 13 of each container is confined within one flue 26, which is designated as the wet flue. No liquid, therefore, descends through any other flue, which other flues (27) are consequently considered as dry flues. Since the overflow brine has a temperature of zero, or below, it absorbs considerable heat from the air as it descends through the wet flues 26 and as it lays on the floor of the car before it escapes from the car through outlets provided for that purpose.

It is'obvious that the duct may be made in one unit and function similarly to that just described and thus Figure 5 shows a vertical section through a single duct 45 about both the overflow II and drain openings l3, which duct extends within the upper end of the wet flue 26 and thus conducts all liquid from the overflow and/or drain openings thereinto.

The ducts 35 and 39 are preferably solely attached to and solely supported by the tanks 1 (as shown in the drawings) so that they may be installed in the car with the tank and also be removed from the car with the tank. Furthermore, in such an arrangement any relative movement between the tank and/or the side wall of the car, due to service movements of the car, does not have a tendency to crack or distort the means attaching these ducts 35 and/or 39 to the tank. A further object of this arrangement is so that the tank and the ducts 35 and 39 may be simultaneously dipped in liquid spelter to galvanize them, thus assuring that no corrosion will occur at the joints between the tank and conduits.

The enclosures or ducts 35 and 39 are preferably substantially the same length (i. e., lengthwise of the car) but both are of less length than the width (i. e., lengthwise of the car) of the flue 26 into which they discharge the liquid or brine. These comparative sizes (relatively speaking) are shown in Figure 2. Such an arrangement allows air, being cooled by contact with the refrigerant container, to flow around the conduits 35 and 39 as well as through them, and conversely, the conduits .35 and 39 do not interfere with the free movement of such air from adjacent the container to the vertical flue.

The partition l lis positioned below the refrigerant container 1 and spaced slightly therebelow, which extends fromthe side wall of the car to adjacent the longitudinal center of the car where it is provided with an upstanding flange 46, thereby practically enclosing the container and providing an air cooling space thereabouts.- The partition inclines downwardly toward the side wall, and the upper end of the flues communicate with said air cooling space, whereas the lower ends of said flue communicate with the air distributing space 6 under the foraminous floor 4. Thus the air in the cooling space, as it is cooled by the refrigerant in said container, moves downwardly to and through said flues to said distributing space, upwardly through the foraminous floor and lading compartment back to the cooling space where the cycle is repeated.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modificaa wall, a flue forming part of said wall, a liquid refrigerant container adjacent said roof and provided with overflow and drain openings; a duct communicating with said overflow and drain openings and said flue to conduct liquid from said overflow and drain openings directly into said flue.

2. In a railway refrigerator car having a roof, a Wall, a flue forming part of said wall, a liquid refrigerant container adjacent said roof and provided with overflow and drain openings; and means to direct air cooled by a refrigerant in said container into said flue; a duct communicating with said overflow and drain openings and said flue to conduct liquid from said overflow and drain openings directly into said flue.

3. In a railway refrigerator car having a roof, a wall, a flue forming part of said wall, a liquid refrigerant container adjacent said roof and provided with overflow and drain openings; and means to direct air cooled by a refrigerant in said container into said flue; a duct communicating with said overflow and drain openings and said flue to conduct liquid from said overflow and drain openings directly into said flue, said duct provided with means whereby some of said air may pass through said duct into said flue.

4. In a railway refrigerator car having a. wall, a roof, a plurality of vertical flues forming part of said wall, a refrigerating chamber adjacent said roof and a liquid refrigerant tank within said chamber, said wall, roof, chamber and tank being associated so that air in said chamber being cooled by a refrigerant in said tank is directed into said flues; a duct communicating with drain holes and overflow holes in said tank which directs 6 liquid from said holes directly into one of said flues only without preventing the flow of cooled air from said chamber into said last mentioned flue.

5. A liquid refrigerant tank for a railway refrigerator car having imperforate bottom and side walls except for overflow holes and drain holes, said tank being provided with a duct communicating with said holes and adapted to discharge liquid from said holes remote from said tank.

6. A liquid refrigerant tank for a railway refrigerator car having imperforate bottom and side walls except for overflow holes and drain holes, said tank being provided with a duct communicating with said holes and adapted to discharge liquid from said holes into vertical flues forming part of the wall of a refrigerator car.

'7. In a railway refrigerator ear having a wall, a roof, a plurality of vertical flues forming part of said wall, a refrigerating chamber adjacent said roof and a liquid refrigerant tank within said chamber, said wall, roof, chamber and tank being associated so that air in said chamber being cooled by a refrigerant in said tank is directed into said flues; a duct communicating with holes in said tank which directs liquid from said holes directly into one of said flues only without preventing the flow of cooled air from said chamber into said last mentioned flue.

EDWIN R. BATTLEY. GEORGE E. MCCOY.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Zeidler Oct. 28, 1941 Number 

